Youth, power arms dominate prospect rankings

You've got to give the Philadelphia Phillies credit: Considering all the prospects they've dealt over the past several years, none have come back to bite them.

Kyle Drabek, Carlos Carrasco and Michael Taylor were all coveted minor leaguers but none have developed into big league regulars, at least not yet.

Meanwhile, the Phillies roll along with the best record in baseball and are bolstered by a crop of invaluable young pitchers who came through their farm system: Vance Worley, Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo.

Lou Marson, Jason Donald, J.A. Happ and Adrian Cardenas were minor league stars in the Phillies system but none would be helping the Phillies right now.

Anthony Gose and Travis d'Arnaud remain bright prospects, as do the latest bunch just exchanged for Hunter Pence - Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart and Domingo Santana - but none of them could have helped the Phillies win the World Series this year. Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Pence might.

Considering all the subtractions the Phillies minor league system has absorbed in recent years there's still more talent on the farm.

Most of it, as you can see from the Reading Eagle's annual ranking of the Phillies' minor league talent, is quite young - more than half of the players have yet to advance to the proving ground that is Double-A Reading.

The list, selected by media members who cover the Phillies farm system, shows plenty of power arms - seven of the top 10 selections are pitchers - but not a whole lot of power bats.

Domonic Brown, who has spent nearly a full season in Philadelphia, was not considered for the list. Neither were any of the players traded by the organization.

Voting was on-going when Michael Schwimer, who comes in at No. 9, made his major league debut earlier this month, so he was eligible.

Trevor May, second in the minor leagues in strikeouts, tops the list, moving up three spots from last season, when he trailed Singleton, Cosart and Worley.

Jesse Biddle, the Phillies' No. 1 pick in 2010, jumps to No. 3; he wasn't on last year's list. Neither were reliever Phillippe Aumont, who comes in at No. 5; Clearwater pitcher Jonathan Pettibone, at No. 11; or left-hander Joe Savery, who has rediscovered his fastball and comes in at No. 14.

Savery made the list in 2009 before falling off last year.

Shortstop Freddy Galvis moved up 14 spots from last year after showing some pop in his bat.

Clearwater's Julio Rodriguez, the biggest winner in the minors, moves up 12 slots to No. 8.

Current Reading Phillies barely are represented in this year's Top 20. Galvis, Aumont and Justin DeFratus (No. 7) opened the year here before moving to Triple-A. So did second baseman Harold Garcia (No. 15), who was injured and lost for the season in April. The only Reading players who remain are No. 12 Austin Hyatt and No. 17 Carlos Rivero.

Here's a brief look at the Top 10:

1. Trevor May: Jarred Cosart was considered by many the top pitching prospect in the organization at the start of the season but some believe May has passed him, making Cosart expendable. The 21-year-old right-hander is overpowering Florida State League hitters, with 197 strikeouts in 1431/3 innings - a rate of 12.4 per nine innings. Overall, the former fourth-round pick is 10-7 with a 3.45 ERA. Batters are hitting .215 off him.

2. Sebastian Valle: This is the reason the Phillies didn't mind trading away top catching prospects Lou Marson and Travis d'Arnaud. His power is down this year - he has just five homers for Clearwater, after hitting 16 at Lakewood in 2010 - but his batting average is up more than 30 points, to .287. The 21-year-old is the top-ranked catcher in the Florida State League, with just two errors in 89 games; he's fourth in the league in throwing out basestealers at 32.2 percent.

3. Jesse Biddle: After a rough start that saw him end April with a 7.16 ERA the 19-year-old lefty has looked every bit the first-round pick. Overall he's 7-8 with a 2.94 ERA but in 11 appearances since the All-Star break he has compiled a 1.75 ERA, allowing jus 43 hits and three homers over 612/3 innings. He was taken with the 27th overall pick of the 2010 draft and signed by Eric Valent, the former Reading right fielder.

4. Freddy Galvis: Some questioned whether the smallish shortstop ever would hit. He has silenced critics this season by showing newfound power in his return to Reading and by batting .321 in his first 23 games after an early August promotion to Triple-A. And he's still just 21. Galvis homered eight times and batted .273 in 104 games in Reading. His game benefited from an offseason conditioning program that made him stronger and quicker.

5. Phillippe Aumont: The 22-year-old right-hander used the offseason to get his mind right, then quickly put his disastrous 2010 season behind him with a fast start at Reading, where he posted a 2.32 ERA in 25 appearances with 41 strikeouts in 31 innings. He has continued that success at Triple-A, where he has struck out 30 in 191/3 innings, though his walk count has been high.

6. Brody Colvin: He entered the season as the top-ranked pitcher in the Phillies organization but the 21-year-old right-hander has had a terrible year. He missed most of April with a back injury and was pulled from a start in late July with tightness in his groin. His ERA has been more than 9.00 in five starts since. Overall, he's 2-8 with a 5.02 ERA, allowing 121 hits in 104 innings, but scouts still love his arm.

7. Justin DeFratus: He hasn't been quite as dominant with Lehigh Valley as he was in Reading, but he's still been pretty good, with 48 strikeouts over 37 innings, and just 11 walks. At Double-A he struck out 43 in 341/3 innings, with a 2.10 ERA. If both he and Aumont come through, along with Schwimer and Michael Stutes, the Phillies will be awash in setup guys.

8. Julio Rodriguez: Why isn't this guy already pitching for Reading? The right-hander has gone 16-7 with Clearwater, where opposing batters are hitting a league-low .191 against him. He's striking out better than a batter per inning, second to May in the FSL. Oh, he's just 20 years old? Maybe that's why he's not at Double-A yet.

9. Michael Schwimer: Being a 14th-round pick, Schwimer has had to dominate at each level to make it to the majors, so that's exactly what he's done. After striking out 58 in 40 innings last season for Reading the 25-year-old righty was even better this season for Lehigh Valley before his recent call-up: 9-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 86 whiffs in 67 innings.

10. Jiwan James: James was drafted as a pitcher and spent his first two pro seasons on the mound, so his development as a hitter is expected to be slow. The 22-year-old has a frame like Domonic Brown, but not the power to go with. After batting .270 last season at Lakewood he's held his own at Clearwater, batting .267 with 25 stolen bases in 119 games.